Is this a good idea or will it get me killed?

[Laraso]

I have a good Kobold Chaos Knight of Mahkleb going right now, and there is a rod I want to pick up that is guarded by two uniques; Duvessa and Dowan. They are both asleep, and I was thinking of shooting them both with needles of confusion and then breserking them. The thing is, if one of them dies, the other is supposed to get even more powerful, and I only have 3 needles so I can't miss. I have a small abomination I got from a scroll of summoning that is able to help me.

Ordinarily, I would just go ahead and try it, but this character is doing very well and I don't want to risk losing it.

Is it likely to get me killed or is it a good idea?

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.7.1-1-g7ce9b19 character file.

Laraso the Slicer (Kobold Chaos Knight)                                                        Turns: 10775, Time: 00:46:37

HP  50/52        AC 10     Str 11      Exp: 9/3535 (143), need: 375
MP  12/12        EV 21     Int 10      God: Makhleb [*****.]
Gold 60          SH  0     Dex 18      Spells:  0 memorised,  8 levels left

Res.Fire  : . . .   See Invis. : .   a - +4,+2 short sword
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : .   f - +2 robe of Liberty {rElec}
Life Prot.: . . .   Conserve   : .   (no shield)
Res.Poison: .       Res.Corr.  : .   (no helmet)
Res.Elec. : +       Clarity    : .   v - +2 cloak
Spirit.Shd: .       Stasis     : .   h - +2 pair of gauntlets
Sust.Abil.: . .     Rnd.Telep. : .   (no boots)
Res.Mut.  : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .   N - amulet of rage
Res.Rott. : .       Levitation : .   y - ring of sustenance
Saprovore : + + .   Ctrl.Flight: .   j - ring of sustenance

@: slightly resistant to hostile enchantments, quite stealthy
A: carnivore 3, saprovore 2
a: Minor Destruction, Lesser Servant of Makhleb, Major Destruction, Greater Servant of Makhleb, Renounce Religion, Evoke
Berserk Rage

You are on level 9 of the Dungeon.
You worship Makhleb.
Makhleb is extremely pleased with you.
You are very full.

You have visited 1 branch of the dungeon, and seen 9 of its levels.

You have collected 236 gold pieces.
You have spent 196 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 a - a +4,+2 short sword (weapon)
 l - a sling
 x - a quarterstaff of chaos
 K - a blowgun
 O - an uncursed bow
Missiles
 e - 2 poisoned elven darts (quivered)
 p - 97 stones
 r - 3 needles of confusion
 s - 2 darts of frost
 L - 20 poisoned orcish needles
 M - 37 sling bullets
 P - 24 poisoned arrows
Armour
 f - the +2 robe of Liberty (worn) {rElec}
   (You found it on level 1 of the Dungeon)   
   It insulates you from electricity.
 h - a +2 pair of gauntlets (worn)
 v - a +2 cloak (worn)
Magical devices
 d - a wand of enslavement {zapped: 3}
 D - an iron wand
 F - a blackened ivory wand
Comestibles
 c - 5 meat rations
Scrolls
 i - 4 scrolls of detect curse
 k - a scroll of random uselessness
 t - 3 scrolls of remove curse
 u - 8 scrolls of teleportation
 B - a scroll labeled YRETUT OCHIXOU
 E - 2 scrolls labeled MAWIOC BAOHORU
 H - 2 scrolls labeled FRUOSUM URUSS
 I - 2 scrolls of identify
Jewellery
 g - an uncursed amulet of controlled flight
 j - a ring of sustenance (left hand)
 n - an uncursed ring of magical power
 q - a +2 ring of strength
 w - an uncursed amulet of stasis
 y - a ring of sustenance (right hand)
 A - an uncursed ring of levitation
 G - a large platinum amulet
 N - an amulet of rage (around neck)
Potions
 b - 3 potions of agility
 m - a glowing red potion
 o - 2 potions of heal wounds
 z - 2 purple potions
 C - a murky blue potion
 J - a glowing blue potion

 You have 143 experience left.

   Skills:
 + Level 5 Fighting
 + Level 11 Short Blades
 - Level 2 Throwing
 + Level 8 Dodging
 + Level 4 Stealth
 + Level 2 Stabbing
 + Level 2 Traps & Doors
 + Level 2 Invocations

You have 8 spell levels left.
You don't know any spells.

                    Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You recuperate from illness quickly.
You are small and have problems with some larger weapons.
You are carnivorous and can eat meat at any time.
You can eat rotten meat.

#       #.##...###....x.......
#    ####........###########.#
     #..x...####.#        ...#
     #.####.#  #x#       #####
     #.#.##.#  #.#
     #.#.x..#  #.#
     #.#x####  #.#
     #.#.#######.#
     #x#.....x...#   .
     #.###########e....
     #.....x..@$.....#
     ##########.....|#
               .###e#.
               .#
               ##

You can see Duvessa (sleeping), Dowan (sleeping) and a friendly small abomination.

[tromboneandrew]

Only pick fights that you know that you can win. IMHO, you should leave them and come back later when you have some better offense.

[danr]

Yeah, even if you only pick fights where you have a 90% chance of winning, it doesn't take long until your number comes up. I'm still learning this myself. The real problem of course is knowing when you have a 99.9% chance.

This games not won in battles, it is won in picking your battles.

With Makhleb at *****., you should be able to summon a greater servant. What level is your invocation skill at (you don't want to summon a hostile demon)?

[danr]

How do you know that probability? That would be nice to know. I summoned a hostile executioner at Invo skill 12, I'd prefer to avoid that.

[Sealer]

2 Things I'd like you to consider:
1. Small abomination is very strong at this point of game and will probably kill one of them or both in a battle.
2. You should be able to summon a lesser servant of makhleb which might help a lot as well. Don't try summoning the greater one, cause greater demon is much more likely to be hostile at this point of game and you really don't need that much firepower for them anyway.

What I would do is get outside of elf siblings line of sight, summon lesser servant of makhleb. If it's not hostile, get it and small abomination to attack dovan while you berserk duvessa. Alternatively kill Dowan and teleport away and come back later.

I noticed you are wearing 2 rings of sustenance while you have lots of other jewelry. As a kobold its pretty much pointless to wear rings of sustenance, I'd swap them for the ring of strengh and maybe magical power for now (if you like to use makhleb invocations). Also you have 2 non identified wands in your inventory, I'd advise you to go back and use id them on some weak monsters. One of them may be a wand of draining/fire/cold/disintegration which would greatly help you against the uniques and any other big threats at this point in game.

[Laraso]

I don't want to try summoning any servants until I get my invocations level up.

The reason I'm wearing rings of sustenance is to keep my hunger occupied while I sacrifice corpses until I get full piety. I know it doesn't really matter while I'm a kobold, but I just want to get it full as fast as possible, and I don't know any spells so the ring of magic wont do me any good (unless I use lesser destruction). I think swapping one for the ring of strength is a good idea though.

I was thinking of maybe trying to zap them with my wand of enslavement so they wont bother me while I get the rod, then come back later and kill them. But is there a chance that they wont be enslaved if I don't have any skill in evocations? I've never had a time where a wand of enslavement failed, but I've never tried them on uniques either.

[lucy_ferre]

Is it likely to get me killed or is it a good idea?

You have a lot of unidentified items in your inventory. You should start identifying your stuff. Anyway, you can probably kill them. Zap Duvessa with the enslavement wand and make her kill her brother. Afterward, kill her when she calms down.

How do you know that probability? That would be nice to know. I summoned a hostile executioner at Invo skill 12, I'd prefer to avoid that.

70 - Piety/25 - 4*Invocations

[danr]

How do you know that probability? That would be nice to know. I summoned a hostile executioner at Invo skill 12, I'd prefer to avoid that.

70 - Piety/25 - 4*Invocations

Thanks. And according to CrawlWiki's Piety page:

  Code:

You cannot see your exact Piety number in-game, but you can estimate it from the number of stars shown by your god's name on your character page (command %). Not coincidentally, these stars are the levels of Piety required for you to receive new abilities.
   Piety
*   30
**   50
***   75
****   100
*****   120
******   200+

Other ways to estimate your Piety include praying, or looking at the Favour description on your religion screen (command ^):
Beneath notice   Displeased           4 or less
Noncommittal   Noncommittal        5+
Noted your presence   Pleased          20+
Most pleased   Most pleased           40+
Rising star   Greatly pleased              70+
Shining star   Extremely pleased            100+
Prized avatar   Exalted               130+

[Sealer]

Good to know!

However you would probably survive summoning a hostile lesser servant and you most certainly won't a greater demon.

[tromboneandrew]

You have a lot of unidentified items in your inventory. You should start identifying your stuff. Anyway, you can probably kill them. Zap Duvessa with the enslavement wand and make her kill her brother. Afterward, kill her when she calms down.

I tried that once - and then couldn't get away from the berserking Duvessa. I foolishly waited around to watch what would happen.